Preconception lifestyle interventions for women-a systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention characteristics and behaviour change techniques.

Background: The time before conception is an important opportunity to improve maternal lifestyle, and hence improve fertility and health. However, the components of effective preconception lifestyle interventions are unclear.

Objective And Rationale: This review aimed to assess the association of intervention characteristics and behaviour change techniques with the effect of lifestyle interventions on fertility, obstetric, foetal, anthropometric, and metabolic outcomes in women planning a pregnancy.

Sleep Apnea Specific Hypoxic Burden in Children With Down Syndrome and Typically Developing Children.

Hypoxic burden (HB) is a measure incorporating frequency, depth and duration of respiratory event-related desaturations. While HB is associated with cardiovascular disease in adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), it has not been assessed in typically developing (TD) children with OSA, nor in children with Down syndrome (DS), who have a higher incidence of OSA with more severe hypoxia. We assessed whether HB in these children was related to heart rate variability (HRV), an indicator of cardiovascular outcomes.

Urea-Loaded PLGA Microspheres as Chemotaxis Stimulants for Helicobacter pylori.

Helicobacter pylori cells undergo chemotaxis toward several small molecules, called chemo-attractants, including urea produced by the epithelial cells of the stomach. The biophysical mechanisms of chemotaxis are not well understood in H. pylori.

Enhancing Bone Implants: Magnesium-Doped Hydroxyapatite for Stronger, Bioactive, and Biocompatible Applications.

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) with the chemical formula Ca(PO)(OH) is an inorganic material that exhibits morphology and composition similar to those of human bone tissues, making it highly desirable for bone regeneration applications. As one of the most biocompatible materials currently in use, HAp has undergone numerous attempts to enhance its mechanical strength. This research focuses on investigating the influence of magnesium (Mg) incorporation on the structural and mechanical properties of synthesized magnesium-doped hydroxyapatite (MgHAp) samples.

Enhancement of Fracture Toughness in carbonate doped Hydroxyapatite based nanocomposites: Rietveld analysis and Mechanical behaviour.

Highly nanocrystalline carbonated hydroxyapatite (CHAp) is synthesized by hydrothermal technique with four different stoichiometric compositions for microstructural and mechanical analysis. HAp is one of the most biocompatible material and addition of carbonate ions lead to increase in fracture toughness highly required in biomedical applications. The structural properties and its purity as single phase is confirmed by X-ray diffraction.